Beneath the Sod
Beneath the Sod is the solo funeral/industrial doom project of Irish musician Ray Keenaghan (Wreck of the Hesperus), formed 2017. Releases include Circling the Drain (2017, Fort Evil Fruit), the split cassette Transmorphic Eye (2018, with Crypticum), and a self-titled 2021 EP on Cursed Monk Records described as harsh, synth-laced industrial doom metal with guest vocals from Richard Carson.
SCORE PROFILE
Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.
WHY THOSE SCORES
- Doom 7 — MA 'Sludge/Funeral Doom Metal'; Bandcamp 'industrial doom metal'
- Drone 4 — Riffs 'heave and collapse' slowly; 'ominous droning tones'
- Ambient 4 — 'harsh ambience'/industrial texture over doom riffing
MEMBERS
- Ray KeenaghanEverything (2017-present)
- Richard CarsonGuest vocals (2021 EP)
FURTHER LISTENING
Nearest score profiles in the atlas.
- UnaffiliatedEI 17Persistence in MourningDoomDroneAmbient
Persistence in Mourning is the Oklahoma City-based solo funeral doom project of Andy Lippoldt, active since 2006, described as sitting between funeral doom, death industrial, power electronics and death metal.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13All Are to ReturnDoomAmbientDrone
All Are to Return is a mostly-anonymous two-person industrial doom/noise project (credited only as 'F' and 'N') based in the Netherlands, releasing since 2020 via Tartarus Records. Their records (II, 2021; III, 2024; Limen, 2025) build colossal, FX-drenched noise-scapes from pulsing synths, doom-paced percussion, and screamed vocals, with lyrical/conceptual focus on ecological collapse and climate catastrophe. No gamelan or other Indonesian/Balinese percussion instrumentation was found in any source consulted, despite that being the scouting lead's premise — the confirmed sound is industrial/doom/noise, not gamelan-folk fusion.
- Blackgaze / avant-blackEI 15Psy-No-ArkDoomAmbientDrone
Ecuadorian experimental collective from Guayaquil ('Psychedelic-Noise-Arkestra') led by multi-instrumentalist José Francisco Ycaza (aka Esquizoide 0nírico), billed 'Arkestra Director' in the Sun Ra tradition. Their 2019 album Nodvs Gordivs (Pensador Records) is a long-form concept piece weaving Castro, Alexander the Great and the Sabazios cult into a psychedelic doom/sludge/krautrock ritual built from extended pieces of noise, orchestral texture and heavy riffing.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13The Mountain KingDoomDroneAmbient
German experimental/noise act (Mainz) built around destructive recording techniques rather than conventional songwriting — their Radiant Eulogy series deliberately degrades master tapes (sun exposure, physical decay) to bury heavy doom riffs under crackling, collapsing signal. Prolific (37+ Bandcamp releases since 2013) across noise, post-metal, drone, doom, and post-rock with electronic/tape elements. Sits closer to power-electronics/drone art-noise than conventional metal songcraft.
- UnaffiliatedEI 17Black MayonnaiseDoomDroneAmbient
Black Mayonnaise is the long-running one-man bedroom project of Mike Duncan from Akron, Ohio, active since August 1991. It blends heavily detuned, distorted doom/sludge guitar with drum-machine programming, tape loops and cut-up sonic manipulation into a lo-fi, ambient/psych-drone-inflected sound. Cited influences include old Godflesh, old Carcass, Butthole Surfers and Big Black; notable releases include TTSSATTSR (2004) and the retrospective compilation When You Get Caught Between the Moon and Boston Harbor (2011). (Verified spelling: the RYM scout note had a typo, 'Black Mayonaise' — the real band spells it 'Black Mayonnaise'.)
- Southern Lord / droneEI 14Burning WitchDoomDrone
Burning Witch was an American doom/sludge metal band formed on Capitol Hill in Seattle in early 1995 from the ashes of the doom/death band Thorr's Hammer, active until 1998. Known for extremely slow tempos, dense feedback and Edgy 59's alternately mournful and tortured vocals, the group is best remembered as a formative pre-Sunn O))) project for guitarist Stephen O'Malley. Their EP recordings were gathered on the compilation Crippled Lucifer, released in 1998 on Southern Lord Records, the label O'Malley co-founded with fellow Seattle musician Greg Anderson.
- Southern Lord / droneEI 23ThronesDoomDroneAmbient
Thrones is the long-running solo project of American bassist Joe Preston, begun in 1994 and given to bass-heavy doom, avant-garde noise rock and experimental drone. Preston is a scene hub in his own right — a former member of Earth and the Melvins and a guest on Sunn O)))'s recordings — and Thrones channels that low-end lineage into one-man records like the Southern Lord compilation Day Late, Dollar Short (2005). The music pairs crushing riffs and heavily processed vocals with an eclectic, unpredictable sensibility.
- UnaffiliatedEI 17Umbra NihilDoomDroneAmbient
Umbra Nihil is a Finnish doom metal project built around multi-instrumentalist Vilpir (Ville Vierimaa), pairing slow, expansive doom weight with 70s progressive rock and Zeuhl-inflected passages, flute textures, and Lovecraft/weird-fiction-derived ritual concepts — The Borderland Rituals draws on William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland. The band shares lead guitarist Master Warjomaa with atlas act Aarni, tying it directly into the same oddball Finnish doom orbit. Largely dormant since 2008 due to lack of motivation from its songwriters.
- Post-metalEI 17UfomammutDoomDroneAmbient
Ufomammut are an Italian power trio formed in 1999 in Tortona, dealing in a signature strain of psychedelic sludge that spans doom, stoner, sludge and drone metal. Their music favors lengthy songs built on repeated heavy riffs, droning vocals and a heavy use of synths and sound effects, staged live with synchronized psychedelic visuals by founders Poia and Urlo's Malleus art collective. Their most recent studio albums — including Fenice (2022) and Hidden (2024) — appear on Neurosis's Neurot Recordings.
- Southern Lord / droneEI 15ZatvorDoomDroneAmbient
Zatvor is a long-running experimental doom/sludge/drone project from Kursk, Russia, active since 1996. Their 2018 release 'Ключ земли' is a single 49-minute piece blending guitars, drums, flute, and saxophone with noise and electronic textures over a drone/doom foundation, mixed and mastered by James Plotkin.